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Horseshoe Bend DGC reviews
20
0
Fantastic Upgrade 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Feb 25, 2021
Played the course:5+ times
Pros:
This has been my "home course" for many years, and was a decent city 9-hole course for most of that time. In the past year it was upgraded to an even better 18-hole course.
Welcome to the Texas Hill Country, where you'll be playing through large Live Oaks and Cypress, smaller Mesquites, and truly grabby Ashe Juniper (Cedar) trees. All of these are tough trees that will take any opportunity to grab your disc and either knock it down or snag it up in the tree. As an added bonus the Junipers have branches right down to the ground, requiring you to grovel your way in there if you throw under one.
This is not a long course, averaging 313 feet per hole with only a three par 4's, but it offers a great variety from somewhat open to very tight. There are dead-straight fairways along with right and left-bending, and even a couple of S-shaped holes.
Hole 9 is the longest hole, a complex 522' Par 4. There is a very specific landing zone for the drive (for us mortals who can't throw 400' over the top...) and then a tight line from there to the basket. It is a combination of two previous holes, and challenging to birdie.
Hole 12 is a 193 foot hole with a narrow gap between two giant oak trees to split about 130' down the fairway. This gap has been played as a mando with a drop zone in tournaments. Great little accuracy test.
The DGA Mach III baskets are in fine shape and catch well, splitting out only the occasional "good" putt. Very compact tee signs have a simple hole diagram, hole length and par. Good enough for this shortish course.
There is a decent sized gravel parking area with a porta-potty, disc return box, and map/bulletin board. A practice basket is located adjacent to the parking lot as well.
Navigation is straightforward, with the tee for Hole 1 next to the parking lot, and the basket for Hole 18 next to it on the other side. The Hole 10 tee is next to the parking lot as well, allowing for mid-round adjustments at your car.
Welcome to the Texas Hill Country, where you'll be playing through large Live Oaks and Cypress, smaller Mesquites, and truly grabby Ashe Juniper (Cedar) trees. All of these are tough trees that will take any opportunity to grab your disc and either knock it down or snag it up in the tree. As an added bonus the Junipers have branches right down to the ground, requiring you to grovel your way in there if you throw under one.
This is not a long course, averaging 313 feet per hole with only a three par 4's, but it offers a great variety from somewhat open to very tight. There are dead-straight fairways along with right and left-bending, and even a couple of S-shaped holes.
Hole 9 is the longest hole, a complex 522' Par 4. There is a very specific landing zone for the drive (for us mortals who can't throw 400' over the top...) and then a tight line from there to the basket. It is a combination of two previous holes, and challenging to birdie.
Hole 12 is a 193 foot hole with a narrow gap between two giant oak trees to split about 130' down the fairway. This gap has been played as a mando with a drop zone in tournaments. Great little accuracy test.
The DGA Mach III baskets are in fine shape and catch well, splitting out only the occasional "good" putt. Very compact tee signs have a simple hole diagram, hole length and par. Good enough for this shortish course.
There is a decent sized gravel parking area with a porta-potty, disc return box, and map/bulletin board. A practice basket is located adjacent to the parking lot as well.
Navigation is straightforward, with the tee for Hole 1 next to the parking lot, and the basket for Hole 18 next to it on the other side. The Hole 10 tee is next to the parking lot as well, allowing for mid-round adjustments at your car.
Cons:
Given that this is the Texas Hill Country, there is an unfortunate lack of elevation on the course. Only Hole 6 (downhill to a basket next to the river) offers anything at all.
The Tee Pads were originally built with road base, which is an unfortunate combination of oversized rocks and finer material. They are lumpy and uneven, and for the most part the rock has been pushed off to the side. Three new pads constructed with large paving stones are a huge improvement. Getting 15 more on the course would raise my rating from 3.5 to 4.0.
It is possible to defeat some of the tricky fairways on this course with big overhands or spike hyzers, but I don't have the power and most folks will find themselves playing the course through the trees.
The trees here are really grabby, and I've spent more time here per round retrieving discs out of trees than at any other course I've played.
The Tee Pads were originally built with road base, which is an unfortunate combination of oversized rocks and finer material. They are lumpy and uneven, and for the most part the rock has been pushed off to the side. Three new pads constructed with large paving stones are a huge improvement. Getting 15 more on the course would raise my rating from 3.5 to 4.0.
It is possible to defeat some of the tricky fairways on this course with big overhands or spike hyzers, but I don't have the power and most folks will find themselves playing the course through the trees.
The trees here are really grabby, and I've spent more time here per round retrieving discs out of trees than at any other course I've played.
Other Thoughts:
I found the original 9-hole course to be a perfect home course for my 60-year old arm, and am very much enjoying this new and improved version.
